On Thursday, March 31st, SFIG staff met with Congressman Patrick McHenry's (R-NC) office to discuss a potential legislative package focused on the financial technology industry that may be introduced as early as this April. Congressman McHenry, a co-author of the "Innovation Initiative," said at an event last Thursday, March 17th, "Here in Washington our regulators are more interested [in forcing] fintech companies into regulatory categories that are much more fitting with the 1930s, the 1940s and the 1950s. We have to update these systems here in Washington to meet these new categories."

SFIG focused its discussion with McHenry's staff on (a) the implications of Madden v. Midland to the securitization marketplace, (b) the current regulatory structure for marketplace lending, and (c) SFIG's initiative to establish best practices for the marketplace lending industry.

The legislative package is expected to come out in mid-April. Despite his high hopes "that we can legislate in this key area this year," McHenry acknowledged it's an uphill battle in an election cycle. As noted by Isaac Boltansky, an analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading, the forthcoming "Innovation Initiative," which is also authored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), "will face a series of particular hurdles which make passage unlikely.”